Biography of Cleopatra
I was born in 69 BC in Alexandria which was the capital of Egypt at the time. My father was the Pharaoh of Egypt when I was born and his name is Ptolemy XII. In 51 BC my father died and since I was the eldest child, I inherited the throne of Egypt with my brother Ptolemy XIII.
At age 18, I was the queen of Egypt which was not an easy job. The Romans were conquering city after city and they were even beginning to gain control over Egypt when I took the throne. Keeping the Romans from completely taking over my land was a struggle in itself. Along with that, I had enemies to contend with. People were jealous that I was so intelligent (I knew 9 languages) and that I was an independent ruler. I ruled for 3 years until I was overthrown by one of my father’s advisors. I was forced to leave Egypt and move to Syria while my younger brother became the sole ruler of Egypt. But I don’t give up so easily.
I was furious that my brother agreed to this. I found out that the Roman general, Julius Caesar, was in Alexandria and I devised a plan to enter into the city of Alexandria to make a plea to him. I couldn’t simply walk into the city or my brother would have me imprisoned or worse. So, I had myself wrapped in an oriental rug and had the rug offered as a gift to Caesar. When the rug was unrolled, I tumbled out. Though I’m known in modern day to have been a great beauty, I truly wasn’t. But my charm overtook the powerful Caesar and it was love at first sight.
My brother felt he had been betrayed and he declared war against Caesar and his Roman army. My brother died in the war and Caesar gained control of the throne of Alexandria. Caesar restored the throne to me. Again, I was the queen of Egypt and was worshipped as a Pharaoh. Caesar and I had a son together but a short time later, Caesar died.
Upon his death, Rome began to divide. I knew that I had to stay in favor with the Romans so that they would not take the throne of Egypt away from me. When Mark Antony prevailed as ruler of the Roman Empire, I supported him. He and I eventually fell in love, but the Romans were not happy about our love. They felt he was giving away the Roman Empire by allowing me control over Egypt.
Fortune turned against us in 30 BC. Octavian was a man who was also in line for the throne of the Roman Empire. He was not fond of Mark Antony or myself, and he declared war on Egypt. He defeated my beloved Mark Antony and then had me arrested. At the age of 39 I died in honor and was the last Pharaoh of Egypt.















